Scientific environment

ICPEES is a joint research unit of the CNRS and the University of Strasbourg. The unit benefits from a remarkably close-knit scientific environment, which has enabled it to develop new areas of research, both fundamental and applied, with academic partners and the socio-economic world, in order to better respond to future challenges.

ICPEES is based at the ECPM (Ecole Européenne de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux de Strasbourg), which offers engineering training backed up by cutting-edge research in chemistry. ICPEES is therefore naturally involved in training engineers specialized in the energy, health and environment sectors, with skills in chemistry, polymers and functional materials.

ICPEES is a member of the Materials and Nanosciences Federation (FRMNGE), which develops synergies between academic research structures in the Grand Est region. It responds to major societal challenges in the fields of health, energy, the environment and information and communication. It fosters scientific excellence and attractiveness through training and innovation, by supporting scientific operations with a strong structuring character, mainly focused on the development of functional materials. It enables us to initiate projects with very high breakthrough potential and international scope. It also aims to steer upstream research by identifying and anticipating future industrial developments, in order to support innovation and the competitiveness of the region's industrial fabric.

ICPEES is also a member of the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institute, which develops and characterizes new composite materials to achieve outstanding properties and applications. Inspired by living systems that process information and adapt in response to a stimulus, HiFunMat will work on “active materials” with similar properties.

In April 2011, ICPEES was awarded the Carnot label of excellence (along with 7 other Alsace research laboratories and 7 CRITTs) as part of the “MICA” Carnot Institute (Materials Institute Carnot Alsace), in the field of functional materials. Carnot institutes bring together players from the public research sector and the socio-economic world, notably to facilitate and accelerate the transition from research to innovation and technology transfer. Numerous exploratory and optimization research projects have been financed by MICA, and have led to the development of significant amounts of knowledge and the initiation of new collaborative contracts with industrial partners. Thanks to its long-standing experience in materials synthesis and characterization, ICPEES has been able to integrate perfectly into this hybrid structure, where fundamental research rubs shoulders with application-oriented research.

A number of ICPEES researchers are also members of the Institut des Etudes Avancées de l'Université de Strasbourg (USIAS), which funds high-level exploratory research in a variety of fields. Indeed, the Institut d'Etudes Avancées de l'Université de Strasbourg (USIAS) is committed to supporting original and potentially pioneering research, so as to foster a high level of reflection and synthesis. The institute's activities include awarding fellowships and short-stay grants, as well as organizing symposia and conferences.

USIAS offers outstanding researchers the opportunity to explore new ideas and approaches, change the direction of their research, broaden their horizons and apply their knowledge to new fields.

USIAS aims to be a place of intellectual innovation, where researchers from different disciplines and backgrounds interact with each other and with the wider scientific community at the University of Strasbourg.

ICPEES also works closely with the region's Société d'Accélération de Transfert de Technologies (SATT Conectus) in the development of application-oriented research projects. As part of these collaborations, projects have been financed through prematuration or maturation projects, and the results obtained have led to the filing of numerous patent applications and the creation of start-ups. This collaboration will be further strengthened in the years to come, with projects focusing on renewable energies and circular economies.

Through its participation in numerous collaborative projects, ICPEES is heavily involved in the following regional competitiveness clusters:

•  The vehicle of the future cluster
•  Fiber cluster
• Alsace Energivie cluster
• Alsace BioValley cluster